From The Straits Times    |

PHILIPS DAILY COLLECTION MIXER EDITOR’S RAVE
$45, from major electrical stores 

WHAT’S GREAT It was the best performer for whipping cream, and creaming butter and sugar. My whipped cream formed stiff peaks most quickly, in 2 minutes 15 seconds. It also churned out the smoothest and creamiest blend of butter and sugar, in 10 minutes. Being the lightest, it was the most comfortable to hold and use.

WHAT’S NOT The dough hooks did not catch onto the dough as well as the other mixers, and took the longest to form a smooth mixture.

VERDICT Small and light, and a breeze to use, but struggled with kneading dough. 

SCORE 8/10

KENWOOD KMIX HM790
$149, from major electrical stores 

WHAT’S GREAT This mixer was the fastest to produce a smooth dough. It whipped up cream rather quickly, in 2 minutes 30 seconds, and also made a creamier butter and sugar mix than the Russell Hobbs mixer did. The most powerful mixer of the three, its dough hooks had three spirals, compared to two on the other mixers, and also had the biggest whisks.

WHAT’S NOT At 1.5kg, it is the heaviest in the lineup – my arm ached towards the end of the creaming session. It also created the most splatter, so I could only use it on its second fastest speed when whipping cream.

VERDICT A heavy-duty mixer that’s best for kneading dough, and was fairly productive at whisking and creaming too.

SCORE 7.5/10

RUSSELL HOBBS ILLUMINA HAND MIXER
$69, from Metro Centrepoint

WHAT’S GREAT With the slimmest dough hooks, it was the easiest to get at bits of flour stuck to my mixing bowl. It kneaded a smooth dough in good time. It has a slightly bulkier handle than the Philips mixer, but was not uncomfortable to grip.

WHAT’S NOT It took the longest time – 2 minutes 45 seconds – to whip cream. When creaming butter and sugar, there were still visible sugar crystals after 10 minutes; the mixture was also the least smooth among the three batches I made.

VERDICT An average mixer that gets the job done for the occasional baker.

SCORE 7/10

Don’t over-whisk!
When using an electric mixer to whip cream, it’s hard for novice bakers to know when to stop – so as to prevent the cream from curdling and separating. “The trick is to stop whisking just as your cream starts to thicken and form soft peaks. Put it in the fridge and it will naturally stiffen up when the temperature is low,” advises Nur Diannah Binte Samsudin, owner of D’elish Treats.

This article was originally published in Simply Her March 2015.